Transportation system.



A. HORTON. I TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1911.

. Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

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A. HORTON.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1911.

1,070,472. Patented Au 19, 1913.

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TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1911. 1 070 472, Patented Aug. 19, 1913. y 12SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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A. HORTON.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. AiPLIOATION PILI'JD APR. 21, 1911.

1,070,472. Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60., WASHINGTON, D, c.

A. HORTON. TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED 11211.21, 1911.

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A. HORTON.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED 111 11.21, 1911.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

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A. HORTON.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21. 191-1.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

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A. HORTON.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1911.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

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TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APILZI, 1911,

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

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A. HORTON.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 21, 1911.

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1,070,472. Patented Au 19, 1913.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

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fljjorion A. HORTON.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR.21, 1911.

Patented Aug. 19, 1913.

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N wwxAwwwm AARON HORTON, OF COLEMAN, MTCI-ITGAN.

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

Application filed April 21, 1911.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au 19,1913.

Serial No. 622,850.

To all whom it may concern.

Ale it known that l, "nanoiv Hon'ron, citi- 1 zen of the United States,residing at Coleman in the county of Midland and State of lviichigan,have invented certain new and useful lniprovcments in TransportationSystems, of which the following is specification.

My invention relates to means for transportation and particularly to atransportation system of that type wherein a carriage moves along atrack, the track being provided at intervals with switches whereby thecars or carriages may be shunted off upon sidings or unloading sectionsof track from which the cars may be returned to their starting point.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a transportationsystem of this character, particularly adapted to he used in hotels,cafes, summer gardens and other places of summer refreshment, andparticularly designed for carrying food, plates, tableware, etc, from akitchen or distributing point to the dining room or serving room andreturning same thereto. While iy invention is particularly designed forthis purpose, it is not limited to this use as it is obvious that itmight be used for a variety of purposes and might be used fortransporting passengers, small "freight or other commodities.

A, further object of the invention is the provision of a transportationsystem including a track, the track being formed at intervals withnormally open passageways permitting waiters or other persons to passfrom one side of the track to the other without going over or under thetrack, these passageways being automatically closed by bridges or gatesupon the approach of a. car. the bridges or gates rising to their normalposition after the car has passed.

A further object is the provision in a transportation system of thistype of automatic switches operated by means on the car whereby the carmay be automatically made to take any predetermined switch and so beautomatically directed to any desired unloading point, the cars movingalong the track by gravity.

A further object is the provision in a gravity conveyor of thischaracter of automatic means for stopping the cars at desired points andpreventing a rear car from butting into a car in front.

A further objectis the provision of a car to be used in a transportationsystem 01" the character described having thereon means which may beadjusted to operate any desired switch for shunting the car onto anydesired section of the track.

A further object is the provision in a transportation system of thecharacter described and provided with passageways and bridges normallyopen but adapted also to bridge said passageways, of means for closingthe gates or bridges over the passageways upon the approach of a car,means for initially starting the car, means for shunting the car to anydesired side track or permitting the car to continue to the end of theline, means for shunting the cars to a return track, and means formoving the cars from the return track to their starting position.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure1 is a plan view of a car such as will be used with my improved. systemof transportation. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 2is a side elevation of the car. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the car.Fig. 4 is a detail elevation of the means for depressing the switchactuating members. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of thestarting section of the track. Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of acomplete track system showing the various gates and switches. Fig. 7 isa side elevation of the starting section of the track and the meanswhereby the car is elevated from the terminal of the return track to thestarting section. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the section of track shown inFig. 7. Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the starting section, the gateconnected thereto, the combined switch and gate forming the next sectionof the track, and a portion of the following section. Fig. 10 is a planview of the parts shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is a side elevation of asection of the main track and the intermediate unloading terminal andswitch. Fig. 12 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 13 isa side elevation of a portion of the main track, the gate connectedthereto, and the final terminal for the main track with its returnswitch. Fig. 14 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 15 isan enlarged side elevation of the gate actuating mechanism illustratedin Fig. 9. Fig. 16 is a like view to Fig. 15 but showing the gate orbridge partly lowered. Fig. 17 is a side elevation of the apparatus foroperating the combined gate and switch showing the position of the partsafter the gate is depressed to a horizontal position. Fig. 18 is a sideelevation of a portion of the switch operat ing structure showing thelatches whereby the rails of the gate are held in their horizontalposition until tripped. Fig. 18 is a perspective view of the trippingmechanism shown in elevation in Fig. 18. Fig. 19 is a side elevation ofthe parts shown in Fig. 17 but showing the gate depressed so as toconstitute a switch leading to the first unloading section or terminal.Fig. 20 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of Fig. 19 showingthe position of the latch when the gate is fully depressed. Fig. 21 is afragmentary perspective view of the parts shown in Fig. 19. Fig. 22 isan enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2222 of Fig.25, showing the return switch for the first unloading terminal in itsraised position. Fig. 23 is a like view to Fig. 22 showing the switchdepressed to shunt a car from the unloading terminal to the returnsection of the track. Fig. 23 is a perspective view of the switch shownin Fig. 23 and a portion of the unloading terminal and a portion of thereturn track. Fig. 23 is a fragmentary perspective view of the end ofthe switch showing the guides thereon. Fig. 24 is a vertical section onthe line 24-24 of Fig. 23. Fig. 25 is a vertical section on the line25-25 of Fig. 22. Fig. 26 is an elevation of the hand operated bridge orgate for connecting two sections of the main track, the view being takenon the line 2626 of Fig. 27. Fig. 27 is a vertical sec tion on the line27 27 of Fig. 26. Fig. 28 is a view corresponding to Fig. 26 but showingthe gate partially raised. Fig. 29 is a perspective view of the forwardend of the main track section Gr looking from above. Fig. 30 is aperspective View of the same parts as in Fig. 29 but looking upward frombelow. Fig. 31 is an enlarged vertical section of the terminal end ofthe main track, the terminal switch being raised. Fig. 32 is a like viewto Fig. 31 but showing the switch in its depressed position. Fig. 32 isa detail sectional view of the means for depressing the brake plate 225.Fig. 33 is a section on the line 33 33 of Fig. 31. Fig. 34 is a verticalsection on the line 34c34c of Fig. 31. Fig. 35 is a detail perspectiveView of one of the latches for holding the forward ends of the brakeplate down in a depressed position. Fig. 36 is a perspective view of therear end of the terminal switch section. Fig. 37 is a vertical sectionenlarged of one of the cushioning cylinders. Fig. 38 is a perspectivedetail view of the internal mechanism of the cushioning cylinders, theparts being detached from each other.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and mdicated 1n all the vlews of the accompanymg drawlngs bythe same reference characters.

In order that my invention may be readily comprehended, it is best tobegin the description with the point whereat the cars are started, itbeing premised, however, that the track structure is very simple andpreferably consists of. vertical supporting standards 2 of '1' iron setat intervals on opposite sides of the track and connected bylongitudinal stringers 3 and by trans verse braces 4. I have shown thisform of. construction as being one well adapted for the purpose I havein view, but it is to be understood, of course, that I may use any otherdesired form of supporting structure. On the transverse braces aresupported the rails 5 upon which the car moves.

In order to fully understand the operation of the various switches,gates, bridges, etc, it is best to have an understanding of the carstructure itself before proceeding to the track structure. Generallyspeaking, the car is provided with a switch actuating member or membersdisposed below the car and normally carried in the same plane as therails upon which the car runs, these members being so arranged that theymay be set to actuate any one of the various switches. The car is alsoprovided with a brake structure which also depends between the rails ofthe track and is adapted to engage with certain brake plates locatedbetween the rails as will be more fully -de scribed later.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 4 which show the detailed construction ofthe car, 1 derignates the body of the car which may be of any suitableform or construction. The truck upon which the car is supportedcomprises a rectangular frame '7 of angle ironthrough which pass theaxles S carrying the wheels 9. It will be seen from Fig. 3 that thesewheels are considerably wider than the track rails 5. Each of the wheelsis provided with a flange on its inner face as usual. The axles S arepreferably sup ported in ball bearings so that the wheels may turn withthe least friction possible. The frame of the truck at the ends of thetruck are provided with the U-shaped straps 10, as illustrated in Fig.3, and attached to the under side of the body of the car adjacent theends thereof are the members 11 having downwardly turned ends 12, theextremities of said downwardly turned ends being continued parallel tothe under face of the car and inserted within the straps 10. Attached tothe end members of the truck 7 are the upwardly bowed springs 13, whichsprings at their ends are slightly curved in a reverse direction to theends 12 of the members 11 and extended into the straps 10 so as toextend beneath the terminal ends 12 of the members 11. The car is thussupported upon the springs 13 so that all jar and shock is taken up.This is a. preferable construction but I do not wish to be limited to itas it is obvious that the car might. be supported in other ways.

The wheels 9 are each provided with a brake shoe 15. Each shoe isattached to an arm 16 which extends upwardly and is in turn attached toa rock shaft 17. There are two of these rock shafts, one located at.each end of the car and supported in suitable bearings upon the frame 7of the truck. The arms 16 at their upper ends are formed with squarecollars 18 which fit around squared portions of the rock shaft 17 andare held in place by means of set screws 19. i-ittached to the middle ofeach of the rock shafts 17 is an arm 20. These arms extend toward themiddle of the car and at their ends are provided with perforated heads21. Through each perforated head passes a plunger 22 which is providedwith a tension adjusting nut 23 and which at its lower end is pivotallyconnected to a brake plate 24. This plate is disposed horizontally andhas upturned ends 25, the upper face of the brake being provided withlugs whereby it is attached to the plungers 22. Surrounding the plungers22 is a coil spring 24% which, at its upper end, bears against a washerdisposed against the lower face of the head 21 and at its lower endbears against a washer, which in turn bears against the nut 23. It willthus be seen that the plungers 22 are forced downward by the springs 2 Lrelatively to the arms 20 but may move upward against the force of thesprings. The upper ends of the plungers 22 are provided with nuts 26which limit the downward movement of the plungers. The perforations inthe heads 21 are slightly flared and the washers 27 which are interposedbetween the heads 21 and the nuts 26 are rounded and fit in roundedrecesses in the upper faces of the heads 21, thus permitting a certainamount of play to the plungers.

Preferably and in order to strengthen the plungers and provide aneffective guide for the same, I may form the arms 20 with the downwardlyextending brackets 28 to which is pivoted an arm 29 which has pivotalengagement at one end with the lower end of the plunger, the end of thearm 29 being bifurcated. It will be seen that the flared perforation inthe head 21 permits the plunger to rock slightly and thus permits thepivotal engagement of the arm 29 with the plunger. The springs 2 1* arerelatively strong but yield when a pressure greater than normal isbrought to bear against the brake plate 24, as will be hereafterexplained.

The switch operating mechanism consists of a shoe or plate, one for eachswitch in the main track horizontally disposed and carried beneath thecar and having upturned ends, this shoe being designated 30. I haveshown two of these shoes 30, 30 located one on each side of the brakeshoe or plate 2 1, .s illustrated in Fig. 1, but the number will dependon the number of switches in the main track. Preferably each switch shoe30 is braced by a tension rod 31 (see Fig. 4-) which \XllQlNlS along thebrake shoe and is attached at its ends thereto, the middle portions ofthis bowed tension rod 31 resting upon struts 32. This prevents theswitch shoe 30 from yielding and holds it rigidly in place whilepermitting it to be made very light. The opposite ends of each switchshoe 30 are provided with the upwardly extending standards or posts 33which are received in and are freely shiftable in the downwardlydepending sockets 34 which are attached to the bottom of the car body 1.These sockets 34 are longitudinally slotted as at Mounted upon brackets36 downwardly depending from the car bottom, are the bell crank levers37, one for each post The outer extremities of these bell crank levers.

are slotted as at 38 (see 4t), and a pin or bolt 39 passes through theslot 38 and into the upper end of the post 33, this pin or bolt 39 beingcapable of movement with relation to the slot 38. It is obvious thatwhen the bell crank levers are moved in one direction, the post 33 willbe raised and when moved in the other direction, the post will bedepressed and that thereby the switch shoe 30 may be adjustably raisedor lowered, either into position to engage a switch or out of suchposition.

For the purpose of operating the bell cranks 37 and thus adjusting theswitch shoe 30, I provide the transversely extending shaft 10 which ismounted in suitable hearings in downwardly depending webs or aprons 41depending from the sides of the car body. The opposite ends of thisshaft 40 are provided with the pointers 42, each pointer 42 moving overa dial 43, this dial having upon it characters indicating the variousswitches disposed along the length of the track (see 2). In the instanceshown, the dial is provided with numerals 1, 2 and 3, the numerals 1 and2 being opposite each other and the numeral 3 being located in themiddle of the dial. This dial is not completely circular but is arcuate.The shaft 4:0 has upon it the disks A: and 4-5. Each of these disks isthe same and each is provided with the oppositely di posed projectingwrist pins 4H3. Links 47 connect each of these wrist pins to a wrist pinmounted upon the inner end of the bell crank lever 37. The inner ends ofthese links 47 are angularly disposed with rela tion to the body portionof the links so as to permit theinner ends of the links to lie parallelwith each other when in the position shown in Fig. t.

Referring particularly to the disk 44:, it will be seen that when thedisk is rotated in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 4), the links willbe forced outward, thus raising the outer ends of the bell crank levers37, and that when the disk 14: is moved in a clockwise direction thelinks will be retracted and thus act to depress the outer ends of thelevers 37 and the posts As before remarked, there are two of these disks4% and as, both having the same construction, both. connected to pairsof links 4L7, which in turn are connected to the bell cranks 37, theposts 33 and a switch shoe 30. The only difference between the disk 14and the disk 45 is that the wrist pins 46 are oppositely disposed toeach other so that when the disk n moves in the direction of the arrowand thus acts to raise the post 33, the wrist pins upon the disk 45 willact to draw the links L7 toward each other and thus depress the switchshoe 30' attached thereto.

It will be seen that when the pointer 42 is in the position illustratedin Fig. 2 and pointing toward number 1 on said figure, the switch shoe30 will be depressed, while the switch shoe 8O will be raised. When thepointer has been turned to the position 3, neither of said brake shoeswill be either fully raised or fully depressed, but the shoes will besupported in a middle position where neither of the shoes will actuate aswitch. Then, however, the pointer 4-2 has been turned to the numeral 2,then the switch shoe 30 will be fully depressed and the switch shoe 30will be raised. These switch shoes 30 and 3O actuate the automaticswitches whereby the car is shifted from the main track to the sidetrack.

Figs. 5, 8 and 9 show the starting section A of my transportationsystem. As before explained, the rails are supported upon a supportingframe comprising the uprights 2, the longitudinal members 3 and thetransverse members 4, which in turn support the rails 5. The rails 5 ofthe starting section of the track A are very slightly downwardlyinclined and in the illustration are shown as downwardly inclined towardthe right hand end of the sheet. Near the end of the starting section,the rails 5 are slightly upwardly turned as at 50 and are then extendedslightly downward as at 5 Pivotally mounted upon the faces of the railsare the false rails 52, these having side flanges (see Fig. 5), theseflanges tern'iinating short of the extremities of the false rails andthe extremities of these false rails being beveled as at 54: (see Fig.9). The false rails are adapted to be raised from the main rails or tobe lowered thereto. The reason for providing the false rails 52 is thatimmediately in advance of the starting section A there is a transversepassageway'X, permitting waiters to pass from one side of the room tothe other without having to go over the track structure or beneath it.In order to bridge this passageway and carry the cars from the startingsection A to the next section, B, I provide the bridge or gate 55. Thisbridge or gate comprises two parallel slightly bowed rails 5 attached attheir inner ends to a rock shaft 57 carried upon the ends of theportions 5 of rails 5. Extending rearward from the rock shaft 57 are thearms 58, and carried by the lower ends of these arms are thecounterweights 59 which nor mally hold the gate 55 in an approximatelyvertical position.

Attached to the rock shaft 57 are the crank arms 60, each crank armbeing connected by a link 61 to a lever 62 slightly angular in form andpivoted at 63 to a cross bar 63 depending from the portion 5 of eachrail 5. The rear end of each lever 62 is connected to a cross bar 6 1,which in turn is connected by links 65 to the false rail 52. Thus boththe false rails 52 are connected to the cross bar ca, and this in turnis conne-cted to the inner ends of the levers 62. It will be seen thatwith this construction when a car is rolled upon the pivoted false rails52, the weight of the car will depress these rails so that the tread ofthe rails 52 will be lowered upon the tread of the rail portions 5*, andthat this lowering action will depress the rear ends of the levers 62and raise the outer ends of the levers, thus rotating the rock shaft 57and shifting the bridge 55 from the posit-ion shown in full lines inFig. 9 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9, so that the carwhich'is resting upon the false rails 52 will roll olf these false railsand onto the bridge rails 5 The weight of the car holds the bridge railsdepressed but when the car moves off the bridge rails, theeounterweights 59 will raise the bridge to its former position. v

For the purpose of preventing any jar, shock or noise due to the openingor closing of the gate or bridge 55, I connect the extensions 58 of thebridge rails 5 with a fluid cushion device which operates to reduce thisshock or jar, either upon an upward movement of the arms 58 or upon adownward movement thereof. The detailed construction of this cushion orbufler will be later described. It is suflicient, however, to say thatas illustrated in Fig. 37, the buffer 66 consists of a cylinderpivotally supported at its lower end upon a bracket 67 within whichcylinder moves a piston connected to a piston rod 68. This piston rod 68is in turn connected to a lever 69, having angular terminations, whichis pivoted at its middle upon a bracket 70. The outer end of this lever69 is connected by a link 71 to an arm 72 pivoted to one of thelongitudinal members 3 the upper end of this arm being connected by alink 73 with the extension 58 of the bridge rail 5". There are two ofthese cushioning devices and it will be obvious that when the bridge 55is depressed to its dotted line position, the arms 58 will cause the arm73 to rise, thus depressing the arm 72 and raising the forward ends ofthe levers 69, thus raising the plungers Within the cylinder 66. Thepiston does not cushion upon the up stroke but is fully raised by a halfstroke of the gate either from a horizontal or a vertical position andby the other half stroke the piston is fully depressed. Thus the pistonmakes a full up ward and a full downward movement for each full movementof the gate, either down or up, and the cushion is fully depressed whenthe gate is fully open or fully closed.

In order to hold the car upon the false rails 52 while the gate orbridge is being lowered, I provide the pivoted detents 74; which arepivoted at their middles and have weighted ends 75 which act to throwthe detents upward and into position to be engaged by the car wheel. Thebridge rails 53" are also provided with the pivoted detents 76constructed on the same principle as the detents 7% and preventing anybackward movement of the car.

It will be seen that when the rails 5 are in their upraised positionthey form a gate, permitting the passage of persons through the track.When the rails 5 however, are turned down, they permit the car to runforward along the rails and eventually onto a combined switch and gateor bridge as will be now described.

77 (Fig. 9) designates a partition dividing for instance the kitchen orloading room from the serving room or dining room. Inasmuch as it isdesirable to have a passageway' X at the end of the kitchen and apassageway Y at the adjacent end of the serving room, the necessity ofplacing two gates or bridges to extend across these passages inproximity to each other will be obvious. The part now to be described,as before stated, forms not only a bridge spanning the first passagewayin the dining room or serving room, but also forms a switch whereby thecars may be either directed along what may be termed a main track, ordirected to an unloading track which is practically what may be termed aside track, although it is located below the main track in-order toeconomize room, the main track being the upper track while the unloadingtracks and return tracks are disposed immediately below the main track.I have designated this combined switch and gate as B in order todistinguish it from the other elements of my transportation system. Themain track succeeding the gate B I have designated C and the unloadingor side track upon which the cars may be directed, if desired, I havedesignated D (see Fig. 9).

It will be obvious from Fig. 9 that the gate or bridge connected to thepart B must be shifted automatically, either into position to direct thecars along the main track C, in which position it simply acts as abridge or gate in the same manner as the bridge or gate 55, or it mustbe turned down into a position so that the rails of the gate or switchconnect with the rails of the section D. For the purpose of moving thegate of the portion B automatically into line with the main track railsof the section C, I have devised the following mechanism.

Projecting into the path of movement of the extremities of the rails 5of the bridge 55 is a cross bar 80 which is carried upon the innerextremities of angular levers 81 which are pivoted at 82 to a bracket 83attached to rails 5. To this bracket is also pivoted a lever 84: whosepurpose will be later described. The rails 5 are attached at their rearends to a U-shaped support 85, the downwardly extending legs 86 of whichare pivotally mounted upon brackets 87 attached to cross bar 4, thesupporting member 85 being pivotally mounted by means of bolts 88. Itwill be seen from Figs. 17 and 19 that the supporting member 85 projectsrearward beyond the rear ends of the rails 5 so as to support the endsof the rails 5 when the rails 5 are fully depressed, thus permitting thecar to run from the rails 5 onto the rails 55. The forward extremitiesof the le vers 81 are pivotally connected preferably by a pin 89 toslotted arms 89 attached to a rock shaft 90.

Mounted upon the rock shaft 90 are the rearwardly extending arms 91carrying at their ends the counterweights 92. Also attached to the rockshaft so as to swing therewith are the bridge rails 5, these rails beingof course carried in alinement with the rails 5. It will be obvious nowthat when the car runs out upon the rails 5 and depresses the gate 55,the rails 5" contacting with the cross bar 80, will depress the rearends of the levers 8i, and that the elevation of the forward ends of thelevers 81 will cause a rotation of the rock shaft 90 which will swingthe rails 5 downward into the position shown in Fig. 17, and that whenthe car has run oii the rails 5, the counterweights 92 will return therails 5 to their normal position.

It is necessary to provide means for preventing the slamming of the gateor bridge in moving to its closed position, and it is also necessary toprovide means for positively closing the rails 5 into engagen'ient withthe track section C. To this end I attach to the rear ends of the rails5 the depending brackets 93, upon which are pivoted the levers 97 eachcarrying at its upper end a rearwardly projecting arm 95 and a forwardlyprojecting arm 96. The lever 97 is relatively long and extendsdownwardly and is pivoted at 94:. Each lever 97, at its lower end, isconnected by a link 98 to one of the rearwardly extending arms 91 nearthe lower end thereof. Thus it will be seen that a movement of the arms91 will be communicated by the links 98 to the levers 97. The arms 96 ofthe levers 97 are connected by links 99 to an angular lever 100. Thislever extends rearwardly and downwardly and is pivoted at its middleupon a bracket 101. The rear end of the lever'100 is connected to thepiston rod 102 of a cushioning cylinder 103 constructed as hereinafterdescribed. It will be obvious now that a movement of the arms 91 to theposition shown in Fig. 16 will cause the levers 97 to rotate upon theirpivots and will cause a depression of the extremity of the arms 96. Thisdraws downward upon the links 99 and upon the forward end of thelever100, thus raising the piston rod 102. It will be seen from Figs. 15and 16, however, that a half movement of the arm 91 from the position 00to the position y will move the lower end of the lever 97 to its fullrearward position, and that a further movement of the arm 91 carryingthe pivotal connection of the links 98 to the position shown in Fig. 17will cause a retraction or forward movement of the lower end of thelever 97, so that thus the iston in the cushioning cylinder will befirst raised and will then be depressed. This cylinder is a doubleacting cylinder and acts in the same manner as the cylinder 66previously described. The piston rod 102 is raised until the gate hasreached the middle of its are of movement, moving from either direction.whereupon a further movement in the same direction will cause the pistonto be depressed.

By reason of the peculiar construction, the weight of the car upon thelevers 81 will not act to fully depress the gate to its verticalposition, but the parts will be shifted to the position shown in Fig.16. For the purpose of positivelv moving the gate to its full position,I provide a cross bar 104 which is carried upon the vertical members105, this cross bar being supported in a plane immediately in advance ofthe cross bar 80. The vertical members 105 are attached to the ends ofarms 95 of the levers 97, and these vertical members are connected to.the bracket 93, each by means of an angular link 106.

It will thus be seen that as the arms 95 are raised by the rearwardmovement of the lever 97, the cross bar 1041 will be raised into suchposit-ion as to be engaged by the ends of the gate rails 5 so that asthese rails 5 are fully depressed, they will engage with the cross bar104:, and when the weight of the car comes fully upon the members 105these members will be depressed, raising the lower ends of the levers 97and forcing upward on the links 98 which at this point are in theposition shown in Fig. 17. This upward movement on the links 98 willcause the rear ends of the arms 91 to rise further and thus more fullydepress the rails 5 into alinement with the rails 5 of the track sectionC. here it is not intended to operate the gate section B at a switch,the car will simply roll outward upon the rails 5 without affecting anyother mechanism and will pass onto the rails 5 of the section C of themain track. After the car has passed, the counterweights 92 will act toreturn the bridge rails 5 to their upraised or normal position, thusleaving the passageway Y be tween the sections B and C and D open.

' In order to provide 'for automatically shifting the rails 5 intoalinement with the rails 5 of the unloading section D, I provide thefollowing instrumentalities. As before stated, the rear ends of therails 5 are mounted upon the U-shaped member 85 which is pivoted at 88.Thus the forward ends of the rails 5 are adapted to be depressed and tocarry with them the rails 5 the rock shaft 90 upon which the rails 5 aresupported being mounted in brackets depending from the rails 5 or beingotherwise hingedly supported upon the rails. Depending below the forwardends of the rails 5 is a cross piece 107 upon which are mounteddepending ears 108. To these depending ears are pivoted the downwardlyextending links 109 which at their lower ends are pivotally connected tothe forward ends of levers 110, these levers being angularlv bent attheir ends so that the forward and rear ends of the levers are parallel.The levers 110 at their rear ends extend downward and rearward and arepivoted each at its middle to a bracket 111 connected to the adjacentsupporting post 2 at the rear end of the sect-ion B by means of atransverse brace directly mounted upon the post-s. The forward ends ofthe brackets 111 are mounted upon a transverse yoke 112. With thisconstruction it will be seen that when the weight of the car is exertedupon the rails 5 the rails 5 and 5 will both be depressed to theposition shown in Fig. 19. Hence means must be provided for holding therails 5 and 5 in their horizontal position when lowered to the positionshown in Fig. 17 and preventing any further depression of the rails,such means including a latch for holding the rails in a horizontalposition and means whereby the latch may be tripped by one of the switchactuating members 30 on the car.

Attached to the side vertical bars 2 is a yoke 112 as illustrated inFig. 21. This yoke has a depressed central portion, to which the forwardends of the brackets 111 are attached. Pivotally mounted upon atransverse bolt 113, which is supported upon ears 113 is an upwardlyextending member 114 which I will term a stanchion. This member aboutmidway of its length has an offset ear 115, and the upper portion of themember 114 above this ear is upwardly extended as at 116, the upper endof this extension 116 forming a locking member and being reduced as at117, (see Fig. 18).

Pivoted to the ear 115 is a link 118 which forms part of the stanchion114 and which, at its upper end, is pivoted in ears 119 depending fromthe cross bar 107. These two members 114 and 118 together form a twopartstanchion, two parts of the stanchion being jointed to each other sothat they may turn into a position of approximate alinement or into anangular relation. Also pivoted to the ears 119 is a latch 120 which isangular in shape and the rear end of which is provided with a notch 121engaging over the reduced end 117 of the member 116 which forms part ofthe stanchion 114. When the latch 120 is in engagement with the member117, it will be obvious that the stanchion will be held from folding atthe joint and that thus the rails 5 will. be held in a verticalposition, but that when the latch 120 is tripped so as to disengage itfrom the locking member 116, the stanchion will. turn upon its pivot 113to the position shown in Fig. 19, thus permitting the descent of therails F" and 5 to the position shown in Fig. 20 and against theresistance of the counterweights on the ends of le vers 110.

The means for tripping this latch automatically by the car is asfollows. Mounted between. the rails 5 in position so as to be engaged byone of the switch actuating members 30 on the car is a rocker 122, thisrocker being pivoted on a transverse belt 123 or otherwise pivotallyconnected to the rails. The rocker is in the form of a bell crank leverand has a depending arm 124. A. connection 125 extends from this depending arm to a catch 126 attached to the forward ends of the rails 5 thiscatch normally engaging with a projecting lip 127 on the rails 5 Whenthe rocker is depressed, it will draw upon the connection 125 andwithdraw the catch 126 from its engagement with the lip 127 so as topermit the rails to descend. The arm 124 is also connected by a push andpull rod 128 to a depending arm 129 pivoted upon a bolt 130 extendingthrough the rear ends of the rails 5 This arm is provided with alaterally projecting pin 131. Pivotally mounted beside the urn; 129 andalso pivoted to the bolt 130 is the depending arm 132 which carries uponit the pivoted trip 1.33 having the (lOWl1\V2U(li V and rearwardlyinclined extension 134. The forward end of the trip 133 is adapted tocontact with the pin 131 when the parts are in their normal position.The lower end of the arm 132 has a rearwardly projecting enlargement 135which is normally out of con tact with the downwardly extending arm ofthe latch 120 but which when forced into en gagcment with thisdownwardly extending arm acts to turn the latch upon its pivot 136 andto withdraw the rear end of the arm 120 from its engagement with thedetaining member 116. Now when the plate 30 upon the car strikes therocker 122, it depresses the upwardly and forwardly extending roundedarm of the rocker and pushes upon the rod 128. This pushes the lower endof the arm 129 rearward, and this through the pin 131 communicates arearward motion to the arm 132. The lower end oat. the arm contacts withthe lower end of the latch 120, thus raising the latch from itsengagement with the detaining member 116, whereupon the lock beingbroken, the stanchion turns upon its pivot 113 to the position shown inFig. 19 and the rails 5 and are lowered until they contact with the lip137 carried upon the rails 5 of the track section D.

In order to hold the car upon the track and prevent its moving down thetrack until the rails 5 have engaged ith the lips 37, I provide a brakeplate 138 which is attached to angular levers 139 pivoted to the rails5. This brake plate 138 is in position so that when it is upwardlyraised it will engage the brake plate 24 on the car and stop the car byforcing upward on the brake plate 24 and throwing on the brake shoes 15,as before described. The plate 138 is autoniatically raised when therocker 122 is do pressed. When the rocker 122 is depressed, the rod 128is pushed rearward which pushes rearward the arm 129, which through thepin 131 and the trip 133 pushes rearward the arm 132. This arm is connected by a rod 140 to the angular levers 139 so that when this arm 132is pushed rearward, the connection'140 will "force upward the brakeplate 138. lVhcn the rails have been depressed to their fully depressedposition shown in Fig. 19, the trip 133 will come in contact with a pinv141 see Fig. 20) which raises the rear end of the trip and dis engagesit from the pin 131 and thus permits the plate 132 to move forward atits lower end, releasing the tension on the connection 140 andpermitting the brake plate 138 to lower.

In order to support the rails 5 and 5 in a nearly horizontal positionwhile the switch is being depressed, I provide the levers 8 ft which arepivoted to the brackets 8 t attached to a cross bar 8 1 attached torails 5 and depending therefrom. The forward ends of these levers 8 1are pivoted to links 93 which are pivoted at their lower ends as at 91(see Fig. 21) to the cross bar 112 so that the links may rock invertical planes forward and back but preventthe forward ends of thelevers 8 1 from rising. The rear ends of the levers 84: extend rearwardand extend over rollers 95 which are mounted on pins projecting from therear ends of the le vers 91, these pins carrying the counterweights 92as before described. It will be seen that as the rails 5 and 5 turn uponthe pivot 88, the rear ends of the levers 84 will ride upon the rollers95 and will prevent these rollers from rising. It will be obvious thatbecause of the pivotal connection of the lovers 841- with the rails, thelevers will. be bodily depressed and the rear ends of the levers 84:will travel downward with the rollers 95 and keep the extensions 91 ofthe rails 5 very nearly in'a horizontal plane permitting the rails 5 tohave a slight inclination downward and forward as shown in Fig. 19.

It will thus be seen that I have provided mechanism whereby the car maybe either carried onto the main track or directed onto the switch orside track and that this mechanism is operated by the car itself, andthat while the rails 5 and 5 are being lowered, the car will be heldfrom any downward movement by means of the brake, but that when therails have reached their lowest position, the brake will beautomatically released, thus pern'iitting the car to proceed onto thesection I), and that as soon as the car has left the rails 5, thecounter weights on the levers 110 will return the rails 5 and 5 to theiroriginal position and that as they do so the locking member 116 willmove into engagement with the notch 121 and the trip 120, thus holdingthe parts in their raised position until another car comes along whicnhas been arranged to actuate the switch.

In order to cushion the descent of the rails 5 and 5 I have provided apair of cushioning cylinders 14-2 which are pivoted at their lower endsupon a yoke 1 13 attached to the stringers 3, the upper ends of thecylinders being free to move in an arc of a circle. Pistons are carriedwithin these cylinders as will be later described, and these areconnected to piston rods 1 1 1 which are pivotally connected at theirupper ends to the cross bar 107 as illustrated in Fig. 21. These aresingle acting cushions. The counterweights upon the ends of the levers110 are ust heavy enough to raise the switch and its connections whenrelieved of the weight of the car,

but permit a light weight on the switch to overbalance the levers 110and permit the switch to lower.

It is to be understood that the main track section C simply consists ofthe transverse supports upon which the rails 5 are mounted, these railsbeing slightly inclined in the direction of the terminal end of therailway so that the cars will glide gently down the incline. Theunloading section D or siding, however, must be provided with means forpositively stopping the car or cars running upon the siding or unloadingsection so as to prevent a shock when the car has reached the end of thesection D, and means must also be provided whereby if there is a carupon the section the next succeeding car shall be braked or stoppedbefore it can bump into the preceding car. Means must also be providedwhereby the cars upon the siding may be returned to the starting point.The means for braking the cars and for preventing one car from bumpinginto another is as follows: Mounted upon a pivot shaft 150 which issupported upon the lower longitudinal. members 3 are the levers 151,these levers being pivoted at their 1nid dle (see Fig. 11). The forwardends of the levers are connected by links 152 to a cross bar connectingthe rails 5 while the rear ends of the levers 151 are connected to across bar 153 which is upwardly raised at its middle to a point slightlyabove the tread faces of the rails 5 and supports the rear end of anelongated brake plate 1541. The forward end of the brake plate 15% isresiliently supported as will be later described, and is also connectedwith means whereby this the forward end of the brake plate may bedepressed to permit the car to move out upon a return switch. In orderto have an understanding of this construction, however, attention iscalled to the means for mounting the forward ends of the rail sections 5The forward ends of these rail sections are mounted upon a cross bar 155(see Fig. 24) which is supported by upwardly and outwardly extendingspring leaves 156, the inner ends of these spring leaves being rivetedto a supporting cross bar 157 attached to the side pieces 3, asillustrated in the sectional view Fig. 24. Hence it will be seen that asa car runs upon the rail sections 5 the forward ends of the railsections will be depressed. The forward end of the brake plate 154 isguided by a belt 158 and is also so supported by means of an upwardlycurved leaf spring 159 attached to the cross bar 157. The bolt 158 is aguide bolt and extends through the cross bar 157 (see Fig. 30). Theupper end of the belt 158 carries upon it a pin or collar 160. Engagedwith the pin or collar 160 is a latching member 161, the upper end ofthis latching member being bent at right angles to

